Is it considered cutting if you dont use a blade?

Question

What if usually you only leave scratches all over your arm? I use my fingernails and i claw all the way up both my arms..is that still considered cutting?

I only have 1 scare...thats because i always open it back up....like a few minutes ago.

Answer 1

It's still considered cutting and even if people decide not to, you're still self-injuring and need to find another outlet. I did the exact same thing all throughout high school. It never really bled or left scarring until the very last time I did it. Now I have 10 scars on my arm that are forever a reminder of the horrible pain I was in that night. I don't ever want to give myself another scar because I don't want a painful memory everytime I look at it. Put a rubber band around your wrist and when you feel the urge, snap it. It's a lot less damaging to your skin and a better outlet. Start a diary, write how you feel, paint a picture (even if you're no good at painting), write a poem. Find some creative outlet to direct your pain instead.

Answer 2

Maybe its not "cutting" because you dont use a blade of any sort but its all the same behavior, self-mutilation. I did it too, and have recently stopped, so far at least. The main thing is you, for whatever reason (as i do not pretend to understand how you feel or what your life has been like) use the scratching as a way to cope. There are a lot of things you can do that aren't cutting but are in the same category, i started with a broken paperclip, just scratches, then moved up to razor blades as they were more efficient. but i also did some hitting, either punching walls, doors, anything really or hitting myself. i even experimented with burning. The thing is for me, it helped to feel pain and see the result of it. I usually did it because I felt guilt or shame, I hated myself and felt like everything i did was wrong. but i got some help, a GREAT counselor, a good psychiatrist with some good meds and got into a Dialectical Behavior Therapy Group. The group is great, you don't talk about things, because everyone in there suffers from some sort of complusive behavior issue. You just get the skills you need to work through things. Email me if you have any more specific questions, I have a lot of info that might be helpful

Answer 3

Yes. I have a very good friend who draws very hard on his arms with a pen so that he has great red and black marks all over. He isn't using a blade, but it's not any different than cutting. What you're doing is the same as well.

Answer 4

If by doing this you are using it to relieve stress, depression, or other issues, then it is a form of self harm. The act of self harm is done for many reasons. Some people do it to feel more alive, to relieve the feeling of numbness that is so pervasive in their life. Others do it because it focuses the internal pain to something more manageable and external. Therapy can help and I strong suggest that you seek out a mental health professional.

Answer 5

Its called self abuse, and means that you have locked up some feelings of pain from your past when something "bad" happened to you, or maybe you did something bad to someone else?

You may not know what it was since you have locked it in your mind to protect you from feeling or remembering it. But its causing you to feel guilty or bad about yourself, which is why you are hurting yourself, otherwise it will eat away at your life and can cause disease (think dis-ease) or other problems.

You need to talk to a psychologist or other therapist who can help you find the root cause of the problem

Answer 6

Yes as long as the skin is broken and bleeding it is considered a CUT! Unless it is a Puncture or a lacerate which are more severe types of cuts referred to those names.

Answer 7

Technically, no. Cutting with a blade causes a wound called incision which is a clean and even wound. A torn or jagged wound that you would get from snagging a nail or other object is a laceration. So technically you are lacerating yourself.

Answer 8

Yes. Get yourself a doctor. Replace the "release outlet" with something else preferably healthy like excersize or meditiation - not drugs.

And don't let a doctor put you on 'too many' Rx's. You'll feel and get worse.

Answer 9

no it isn't cutting...it is self mutilation. but if you don't stop the scratching...it will probably progress to cutting. i started out scratching and went to the scissors and then the blade. stop asap! it is something you will regret if you keep doing it.

Answer 10

Yes. It is not about WHAT you use, it is about WHAT you do to yourself. There is a reason you want to HURT YOU. Find the reason, it is in there....in your head not your arm.